At least 81 US aircraft worth up to $3.3bn lost or damaged in Iran war

The damage, documented in a Congressional Budget Office report, comes as Trump faces criticism over war’s cost.Two US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling planes sit parked on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport in Israel on September 30 [Erik Marmor/Getty Images]Published On 8 Oct 2026At least 81 United States military aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, have been lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury, the code name for Washington’s military campaign against Iran launched earlier this year.The statistic comes as part of a report released on Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan government agency that provides budget-related research to the legislature.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Hormuz ship attacks surge: Are increased oil exports sustainable?list 2 of 3US stocks slide as oil prices fluctuate over renewed Iran war fearslist 3 of 3The Hormuz bonus: Sailor salaries soar for transits amid Iran warend of listIt estimated that, as of August 1, the cost of the American aircraft losses during the US-Israeli war against Iran was between $1.9bn and $3.3bn.The report this week highlights the growing price tag for the war, which began on February 28. A lasting ceasefire has remained out of reach as the conflict continues into its eighth month.“The asymmetries of warfare show that even small countries with small militaries can inflict damage on the world’s best militaries,” said Harlan Ullman, a former naval officer and chairman of the Killowen Group, a government advisory firm.He told Al Jazeera that Iran has managed to achieve a degree of success in damaging US military hardware and bases in the Middle East.“Iran has plenty of US targets available, and you can imagine what a small drone can do to a major military asset. We have seen examples of that in the Gulf countries during the conflict,” Ullman explained.Monday’s report listed 12 F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II jet and seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft among those affected. Forty-five of the 81 aircraft identified in the report were MQ-9 Reaper drones.Evolving nature of warfareExperts like Ullman trace some of the US vulnerabilities to the changing nature of modern warfare, which is increasingly reliant on low-cost drones that are widely available.Many have pointed to Russia’s war against Ukraine as an example of how a smaller military like Kyiv’s can keep a larger adversary at bay through drone warfare.Rumours of a potential drone attack on Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford — a British base that has hosted US assets during the Iran war — also resulted in the sudden departure of a dozen US aircraft on Sunday.Ullman pointed to those instances as examples of how the threat of drone attacks has been effective in putting larger militaries on the defensive.“We have seen the US had to relocate its B-1 bombers from the UK fearing Iranian attacks, and we have seen how the Ukrainian Operation Spiderweb, where small drones were launched from inside Russia, targeted and destroyed Russian military assets,” Ullman said.Cost of war?The rising costs associated with the war against Iran have also placed political pressure on the administration of US President Donald Trump.Earlier this year, his administration requested a record $1.5 trillion in defence spending for fiscal year 2027, citing the demands of the war.But the soaring price tag has sparked scepticism in Congress, particularly from Democrats.Last month, 45 Senate Democrats and one independent wrote an open letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding transparent accounting of the war’s costs.They argued that a “detailed breakdown” of the costs was necessary before Congress considers further supplemental funding.“American taxpayers have already paid an extra $100 billion out of their pockets for higher gas and diesel prices alone and at least another $60 billion in higher costs for things like groceries, mortgages, and plane tickets as a result of the war,” the senators wrote.“Now you are asking that they pay again to fund a war of choice that Congress never authorized and the President launched with no strategic plan.”In a separate report issued in September, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the war with Iran has cost roughly $38bn, as of August 1.That amount reflects the costs of replacing expended munitions and equipment lost in battle, as well as increased fuel costs and other operations.“An additional month of conflict would cost $2 billion,” the office said.However, it added that, “if the intensity of the conflict increased to roughly the level experienced in July, the cost per month would increase to $3 billion”.The Pentagon said it had “nothing further to provide” in a response to Al Jazeera’s query about whether the losses reported this week were expected and how they would impact the department’s budget.Polls indicate the war is widely unpopular among US voters, and analysts have speculated about whether reports of rising costs may have an impact on the US midterm elections, which will decide whether Trump’s Republican Party will retain control of Congress.But Ullman is sceptical that reports like Monday’s will be a determining factor in the outcome of the vote.“I do not think that report will influence the course of the upcoming midterm elections, as many Americans, even those who oppose the war, would see it as expected damage in a military operation,” Ullman said.